The US House of Representatives voted 245 – 189 to repeal Obamacare. Republicans and 3 Democrats made good on a GOP campaign promise that swept them into office following the 2010 midterm elections. The repeal legislation gained more votes than did the original passage of Obamacare which only had 219 votes. Three Democrats, Boren (OK), Mike Ross (AR) and Mike McIntyre (NC) crossed party lines and voted for the repeal. The full vote can be seen HERE.

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said the healthcare law on the books would increase spending, raise taxes and eliminate jobs.

“Repeal means paving the way for better solutions that will lower the costs without destroying jobs or bankrupting our government,” Boehner said in remarks on the floor before the vote.

“Let’s stop payment on this check before it can destroy more jobs or put us into a deeper hole.”

As stated at the American Spectator, although the House vote to repeal Obamacare may not go much further as the Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will never allow this to go to a vote, even after the challenger set forth by GOP House Majority Leader Eric Cantor,and Obama would certainly veto the bill, the House repeal passage has significant political ramifications.

At the same time, there were 13 Democrats who voted against the original health care bill who are still in the House, meaning that Republicans can now paint the 10 who didn’t vote for repeal as supporters of the law.

Also aptly pointed out by The Other McCain, “10 Democrats who voted ‘no’ on passage in 2009 also voted against repeal, which gives the GOP ammunition against them in the next election cycle: If you wouldn’t vote to pass it, why won’t you vote to repeal it?”

The vote for Obamacare against the will of the people caused great pain for Democrats in the 2010 elections and appears will be a political hot potato for them in 2012 as well. In the 2010 campaign cycle Democrats ran from the President on this issue. What is in store for them in 2012 to defend their vote, or lack thereof.

Comments

8 Responses to “US House Votes 245-189 to Repeal Obamacare, More Votes than the 219 that Passed Obamacare”

Greg the Great on
January 20th, 2011 7:58 am

We need to vote out that 189 members who voted against repeal. Speaker John Boehner needs a new health care bill passed that reduces costs.

Flippy on
January 20th, 2011 10:30 am

#1 -

No argument, but he should come up with that bill before staging symbolic theatrics.

Flippy on
January 20th, 2011 11:15 am

Those figures include 20% who want the law repealed and nothing done to replace it, 28% who want it repealed and then have its most popular provisions put into a new law and 27% who say leave the law in place but get rid of the unpopular provisions.

It is worth noting that a majority (55%) take one of the middle ground approaches—repeal and replace or leave it and improve. (To see survey question wording,

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Only 20% want the law repealed in the fashion that the House is currently going (repeal without a ready-to-go alternative).

I’d love to have the bill repealed. I agree with Flippy though. Symbolism is great but without substance it deflates pretty fast.

What I would like to see them do is put a stop to the budget from here on out.

Steven on
January 20th, 2011 5:19 pm

I don’t see the relevance of comparing this vote’s totals to the vote totals that passed the original bill. Since the members of Congress doing the voting are different, there is nothing significant that voting totals are different, and the headline signalling more votes is moot.
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SM: Oh contraire mon frere. The Democrat controlled 111th Congress had a greater majority of Democrats than the 112th Congress has Republicans. Even still, the 112th Congress that passed the repeal of Obamacare in the House did so with larger nimners. Sorry, but that does mean something.

sm – I see I was viewing this too narrowly in my initial comments, and appreciate your added perspective.

As an observation why the 10 Dems voted the way they did; it might be that they were voting in protest of aspects of the original bill which they disagreed with, while not jeopardizing it’s actual passage. Once made law, they may see total repeal as a move in the wrong direction. They may also see solidarity to the overall accomplishment achieved in passing something that has been attempted for many decades without any results.

What I don’t understand is why the Reps need to try and throw the entire law away if there are parts that are fine as they are, that the public would want to keep. They also seem to be getting a late start; if they had real alternatives prior to passage and also found other changes to make, why don’t they have anything ready to go? Does this lack of readiness lend credence to the idea they are a party of “no”, and never had any real legislative ideas to offer (just talking points)?

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